Wednesday, 2 November 2016

Wednesday, November 02, 2016

Once upon a time, Jean-Claude Van Damme was a legit fighter who competed on a professional level in kickboxing. While some may know about this fact, some might not be fully aware exactly how good he was as a kickboxer. Let me make things a bit clearer, as not only did he end his career with 18 victories, 1 defeat and 0 draws, but he ended all of his winning fights with a knockout. That’s not impressive enough? Well, let me also add that he knocked out every single one of his opponent, never once going to a decision. Also, he won 16 out of his 18 wins within the first round, usually around the 1-minute mark. If you are wondering about his 1 single loss he had, let it be known that he lost because he got disqualified. While only fighting professionally for 5 years, he caught the attention of the publisher and editor of Professional Karate Magazine, Mike Anderson, as well as Geert Lemmens, a multiple time European champion. The two called him an up-and-coming prospect, who looked extremely promising. However, he retired from competition in 1982, with phenomenal record of 18-1-0, beating the likes of Sherman Bergman and Michael J. Heming. While many may want to call out this record as not being too impressive because of the lack of notable opponents, let me remind you that if JCVD would not have turned to films, he might have also been one of those unknown kickboxers whom he fought. These wins are as legit as they can get, showing that Van Damme is not only an ass-kicker on film but also in real life.